First, a bit of a self review, thus far. I have seen it called "Bot Hearding," and I have been doing all wrong. I am a keyboard and mouse player and use the default key settings, so when I see an enemy that I want to engage, I tap the C Key. More often then not, this is followed up with selecting the T Key and the rest of the battle unfolds. Any guesses to why I have been getting frustrated to not having the bots on my team listen to my requests? Yeah, needless to say, I have rediscovered what the F2 and F7 keys are used for and added them back to my adjusted gameplay commands.

Part of that issue comes from the days before bots. Although those command keys have been around for a long time, I stopped using them when there were a lot more real people on both teams. More often then not, my requests were ignored, since most of those folks were operating on a much different agenda and helping me out wasn't a part of their plans. Now, with my artificial allies having much better listening skills programed in, I have revisited those long forgotten keystrokes and started to use them again.

Another pause for self reflection. Although I am still trying my very best to get a much better grasp of Boom and Zoom, anyone who has watched my videos has seen I haven't been all too consistent with this. Try as I might, I still fall back on energy bleeding maneuvers that would make other players just cringe and I freely admit that luck has intervened on many occasions to cover for this....repeated folly. However, random good fortune only goes so far and I still struggle to take the theory I have read, watched and envied others who have perfected, but still come up short on breaking my own habits to fully transition to the more effective reality.

Having said that, sometimes those relapses do come in handy, especially trying to counter the very technique that has eluded me....

I watched the video, looked pretty good, much better than turn fighting on the deck with a mustang. A few things. You could have climbed higher at the start. At 2:14 the I-250 shows up but is much higher than you, The I-250 had an energy advantage over you. The spitfire is also higher than you. The other thing is you followed the I-250 up too high and lost too much speed. when you lose too much speed you become a sitting duck as you stall out. You were lucky he didn't take you out when you were stalling while chasing him. keep a better eye on your speed. Good job on getting the bots to work.

I watched the video, looked pretty good, much better than turn fighting on the deck with a mustang.

Thanks and that is something I am trying to be very mindful to avoid, at least until the endgame and if things are more than in my team's favor.

Psicko23, on 12 April 2017 - 11:35 AM, said:

A few things. You could have climbed higher at the start. At 2:14 the I-250 shows up but is much higher than you, The I-250 had an energy advantage over you. The spitfire is also higher than you.

This is the most common scenario I see with myself, not taking advantage of being at or beyond maximum operational altitude. Part of this comes from the fact I see (most times) a considerable distance between me and an enemy below that I want to engage with. The second part of my dilemma is mapping out an escape route with a decent return trajectory to re-engage. A work in progress.

Psicko23, on 12 April 2017 - 11:35 AM, said:

The other thing is you followed the I-250 up too high and lost too much speed. when you lose too much speed you become a sitting duck as you stall out. You were lucky he didn't take you out when you were stalling while chasing him. keep a better eye on your speed.

I know that exact scene you are talking about here and to be honest, it was a fluke gamble that just barely worked out for me. You are correct on me not paying attention to the available energy I had remaining before I chased them upwards, but I was hoping they were going to stall out first. When I realized that I was out power and they still had some juice left, I threw my hand into being able to control the stall and/or not take too much damage in the process. Pure luck it turned out the way it did, frankly.

Psicko23, on 12 April 2017 - 11:35 AM, said:

Good job on getting the bots to work.

I think I got a little more luck out of that battle by just having them listen to me, but thanks again.

On a side note, I finally broke Ace in the Mustang H, just not with the desired outcome. Oh well, perhaps next time....

(if you want to see a movie of this epic....situation, just leave a comment saying so below)

To me, a great battle in Planes is a lot like a really good novel or a blockbuster movie, something that contains an experience that encompasses a variety of elements the creates something truly epic.

First, the cast of characters and the more humans playing their parts, the better. Second, a scenic location to frame the unfolding scenario. And finally third, not knowing the script or the ending. Load all of this up with intense action, choices and the outcomes because of them and a little touch of uncertainty, just to keep folks on the edge of their seats....

If there was ever a video on how NOT to fly the tier VII premium XP-75 Heavy Fighter, this should rank up pretty high on that viewing list. I flew it completely wrong, recklessly never taking advantage of high altitude gains, nor used proper energy management and performed maneuvers that should have ended my participation within the first minute or two. It wasn't until near the end that I turned on my capture software, realizing that it was pure luck I produced the results that I did.

With the absence of my good friend MagusGerhardt from the forums (in case you didn't know, read here), there has been a really lack of....not sure how to phrase this....familiar presence? Those might not be the right words, but the meaning is roughly the same. More often than not, during my breaks from the game, I would pop on the forums and read his posts, comments and watch the videos on his YouTube channel. His wit and humor might not have been for everyone, but I enjoyed a lot of what he was trying to say and do.

Although we both choose different ways to create and present our video content, I tried my very best to recreate an epic battle on par with a movie Magus produced for me a long time ago, using a shared passion, the tier III premium Dornier Do 17 Z-7 Kauz. I might not use a soundtrack score, or crafty camera angles to capture the moment, but I do bring action in a way that only I can (take it for what you will).

It has been nearly a month since I first acquired the Mustang H and it has been a real wild ride. While not a radical departure from the Mustang D that came before it, there is no doubt it is not the same aircraft, especially in the "forgiveness" department. However, the game plays out at a very different level at the higher tiers, something the Mustang D just saw on occasion, where the Mustang H sees daily.

Through a combination of accidental skill and luck (a lot of that), I am rather pleased with my progress thus far, thanks in a part to some good timing with recent specials and the opportunity to earn some much needed extra experience. I am not sure exactly when the next upgrade will become available, but I know it will happen quite soon.

In the meantime, I continue to fly when real world time permits and noticed I am experiencing more close calls, like this one....

The last ga exited the battle. When someone exits the battle, the plane explodes and it is announced that the plane crashed. When someone exits the battle, it does not affect the supremacy meter.

As far as the battle went, nice job on pulling it off. Some tips. You still should climb higher in that plane. When the teams engaged, you were at the same attitude as the enemy yak 9u. You want to be much higher than the yak 9u. You also don't want to go head to head with it. The top cannon is a 45mm cannon. That will ruin your game if that hits. Also, you chased the first heavy down too far. Good on the win though.

The last ga exited the battle. When someone exits the battle, the plane explodes and it is announced that the plane crashed. When someone exits the battle, it does not affect the supremacy meter.

In all my battles, I have never seen that phenomenon up close and personal, as captured at the end of the video. Now, I know.

Psicko23, on 19 April 2017 - 01:18 AM, said:

As far as the battle went, nice job on pulling it off.

Yeah, these are the moments I live for (or try to).

Psicko23, on 19 April 2017 - 01:18 AM, said:

Some tips. You still should climb higher in that plane. When the teams engaged, you were at the same attitude as the enemy yak 9u. You want to be much higher than the yak 9u. You also don't want to go head to head with it. The top cannon is a 45mm cannon. That will ruin your game if that hits. Also, you chased the first heavy down too far. Good on the win though.

Luck definitely covered my bad decisions during that sortie, that much I can be sure of. Thanks for the tips, I will continue to try my best to put them to use (and, be sure to bring them up again, should I suffer from another relapse).

The Mission is called Taste of Victory, the requirements are win 5 battles while flying a Multirole Fighter or a Heavy Fighter.

Sounds simple enough, right? There are some out there who have the ability to complete all three portions of this task and give off the perception that it took very little effort to accomplish it. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. In fact, it took three attempts to collect on the tier I through IV reward.

In keeping with an unintentional American theme set by flying the Mustang H, I trundled down to the lower tiers in my tier II premium F11C-2 Multirole Fighter. There, I faced a two person flight on the enemy team flying I-15's, was killed in the first minute and the whole battle was over shortly after that. Next, a lone player flying a I-15 proceeded to somehow dominate my entire team and flew circles around me, like I was frozen in the air. Another quick defeat to lift my spirits up.

I don't spend a lot of time in the lower tiers, so I have no idea what are the current player's favorites to fly (you know, that certain crowd and their plane choices). Plus, I have gotten rid of any lower tiered tech tree aircraft long ago, leaving my choices limited to the premiums I have earned or collected over the years and just make do with them. Sometimes, this has put me at a real disadvantage.

However, the old saying goes, "the third time's the charm" and I decided to switch aircraft. Video created from end game action and a replay....

I agree with a lot of what you posted Red, but there is one more thing I would add. In the lower tiers, the use of maneuverable aircraft (TnB) seem to be more effective than what a person would see at the higher levels, say from tier VI and upwards. At a glance, open cockpit planes appear to have a more limited operational altitude band versus the closed cockpit variety, but starting from around tier IV, this isn't much of an issue.

One thing that has been pointed out to me from the videos I post about the Mustang H is that I am not making good use of altitude. I don't go high enough, or I bleed it off recklessly chasing an opponent too far down. Well, I listened to what was said and here is a sample of those results....

Now, before anybody pats me on the back and gives me a thumbs up or anything else like that, I want to be perfectly honest here, the experience felt so....anti-climactic. Despite putting forth my best effort not to give up any altitude and working the layers from the top down, the only exciting part was rolling the dice in the duel against the enemy Me 209 A. The battle was pretty much decided below our aerial jousting match, where all the real thrills and action were taking place. Perhaps, I am just missing the whole point altogether....

The only real bonus from the battle came in the form of reward experience for being the one month anniversary for owning the Mustang H. So, I purchased and installed the last engine upgrade and now onto the final leg to the tier IX FJ-1 Fury.

A long time ago, an elderly veteran who started their European adventures from the shores of Juno Beach, imparted to me an interesting phrase, "An Expert is a know-it-all who refuses to learn anything new." Although I was too young at the time to fully comprehend the meaning or the context of what he said, I came to understand this as I got older.

I bring this up in relation to a recent battle with the Mustang H, where I followed advice given to me by more experienced-in-their-field players and the results clearly showed this was a sound strategy. However, this one sortie is only the beginning for me. I have seen, both in games and real life, that a one time success at a task and people get it in their heads they have become "instant experts." In my case, not so much. I know that I still have a long way to go in the ways of consistency, appropriate battle choices and adjustments. I also know that old habits will try and surface to influence my actions, which have spelt doom in the past, unless luck intervenes on my behalf.

Which brings up another thing that wise, old timer said on occasion, now long past and resting with fallen comrades, "The hardest battle you will ever fight is with yourself."

In fact, I have such a conflict in the following video, can you spot it?